Unfair Park from p6 “We have been in contract negotiations for more than two years,” said Robinson, and they intend to continue their picketing if their needs were not met. If anyone has ever dreamed of being a pi- lot, now might be the time to get started. Many took early retirement because of the coronavirus, and now there is a lack of re- gional pilots. Those pilots who are flying say they are being overworked and want con- tract negotiations. Based in Dallas-Fort Worth, American Airlines recently canceled service to three regional airports because of the pilot short- age, which will take effect September 7. The three cities cut are Toledo, Ohio, and Ithaca and Islip, both in New York. Kayla Lewandowski, the communica- tions manager for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, wrote that they were “in- credibly disappointed” to learn of American Airlines’ decision. “We understand there are many factors that have contributed to the nationwide pi- lot shortage, including the early retirement of over 6,000 pilots during the pandemic,” Lewandowski continued. “This decision was made solely by the airline, primarily due to a shortage of regional pilots. Unfortu- nately, we understand this is a current con- tinued trend in the aviation industry.” Tuesday’s SWAPA demonstration comes after a Spirit Airlines picket in April at Dal- las/Fort Worth International Airport in re- sponse to canceled flights leaving pilots and employees stranded, sometimes for days without aid from the airline. American Airlines’ senior specialist of global communications, Brian Metham, wrote by email that they have reduced their regional flying in response to the pilot short- age, one that could “loom for some time.” Still, he said that they are taking “bold, in- novative steps” to deal with the issue and that American’s three wholly owned re- gional carriers, Envoy Air, PSA Airlines and Piedmont Airlines, recently announced agreements to ensure that their regional network, American Eagle, is able to operate a more reliable schedule in the future. While there is a shortage of regional pi- lots, Metham wrote that they are exceeding their pilot hiring goals. “In fact, last year, American set out to hire 350 pilots and exceeded our goal by hir- ing 575,” Metham said. “This year, our goal is to hire 180 pilots/month, and we’re exceed- ing our goal having hired more than 1,000 pilots so far.” Jack Parrish, owner of Dallas flight acad- emy Parrish Aviation, has also put a positive spin on the situation, saying that the airline industry is booming for training the next generations of pilots despite the shortage. “At our school we have also noticed an in- crease in interest and enrollment, partially due to the significant demand for pilots hap- pening right now,” Parrish said by email. “Recent pay raises in the industry for en- 8 try level jobs have gone from the $50,000 range to the $90,000 range in an attempt to attract pilots to competing airlines,” he added. “Overall, it is a very positive experi- ence for pilots in the industry. Obviously passengers are experiencing the negative Patricia Ferreira/Unsplash side of things with cancelations but with the massive pay raises these will hopefully end soon.” Good time to become a pilot or not, it takes a while to learn how to fly and there remains a lack of qualified applicants, leav- ing flights canceled, pilots overworked and cities losing air travel business. “The shortage will go away eventually,” Parrish wrote. “The pipeline coming up is growing to meet the shortage, however it may not go away for a while.” ▼ POLITICS UNHAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH T Some Texas Republicans are shunning Disney’s attempts at inclusion in films. Texas’ junior senator bragged during his podcast recently that he’d warned the world about “woke Disney” before it was cool. “And I said, ‘Look, these lunatics, they want to see Mickey and Pluto going at it,” Cruz said. “And the press lost their mind.” He then mentioned the “lesbian toys” featured in the Lightyear movie and pon- dered deep questions about doll genitalia. Gross, senator. SEVERAL PROMINENT TEXAS REPUBLICANS HAVE TURNED AGAINST DISNEY IN RECENT MONTHS. BY SIMONE CARTER exas Republicans are storming out of Disney’s Magic Kingdom, clutching their pearls and stomping their mouse ears along the way. Several prominent GOP politicians have recently begun to distance themselves from the beaucoup-money-making mega-con- glomerate responsible for classic movies such as The Lion King and its massive theme parks. Disney, you see, has gone “woke.” Woke in this context means that the or- ganization has attempted to introduce di- versity to its flicks, some of which have been widely condemned in the past as spreading harmful racial and gender stereotypes. The company has also taken a stance against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” law because it restricts elementary school discussions about gender and sexual orien- tation. DeSantis clapped back by revoking Dis- ney’s special privileges, and now, several Texas Republicans are backing him up. In the battle of Mickey Mouse versus Texas elephants, here are four of the fiercest contenders. Sen. Ted Cruz First it was Big Bird. Now, this. Congressman Troy Nehls Richmond-based U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls thinks that Disney has it too good when it comes to air travel. Its theme parks in Cali- fornia and Florida have long enjoyed protec- tion as a no-fly zone, meaning that planes aren’t allowed to soar overhead. Nehls raised the issue in a May letter to prominent members of Congress, pointing out that other theme parks don’t receive the same preferential treatment. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick In April, our state’s lieutenant governor an- nounced on his official website that he is “DONE WITH DISNEY.” Writing like a conspiracy theorist on a Four Loko bender, he warned his constituents in all caps that “DISNEY HAS VIOLATED THEIR SA- CRED TRUST WITH PARENTS AS THEY ACTIVELY PLAN TO INDOCTRINATE AND SEXUALIZE THEIR CHILDREN – IT’S ALL ON TAPE.” Sure, Grandpa. Let’s get you to bed. Tomi Lahren Before she secured stardom in the FOX News pantheon, Tomi Lahren cut her teeth at The Blaze in Irving. So, like it or not, North Texas has to claim her as one of ours. She went on FOX late earlier this month to cheer on the right’s fight against Goofy and the gang. Disney’s “woke, virtue-signaling” is a problem that Lahren sees leading to fewer park attendees. “I miss the good old days, the early ‘90s, when you could just watch The Little Mer- maid and have some fun,” Lahren said. (Guess she never picked up on that movie’s queer undercurrent.) ▼ CRIME JAIL HEIST U UMEKA MYERS, 49, ADMITTED TO STEALING MORE THAN $250,000 FROM INMATES’ COMMISSARY TRUST. BY PATRICK STRICKLAND meka Treymane Myers spent the money she bilked from a Dallas County jail commissary program in big ways. She bought flights, traveled around the country and went to casinos. Now, she could spend 10 years in a federal prison. Myers, a 49-year-old clerk who worked at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center, pleaded guilty last Thursday to stealing more than a quarter-million dollars from the commis- sary program, which received federal funds. Myers worked for the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office overseeing a property vault for inmates that gave them back their left- over commissary money upon their release from jail, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s North Texas office. In late April, she was dealt a charge of theft from a program that receives federal funding. She waived her right to a grand jury and entered into a plea agreement with the government. As part of her job, Myers was meant to correct errors that occurred when an inmate was unable to process a debit card payment. In effect, she made dozens of extra copies of their debit cards, according to court records. Then, over a three-year period starting in 2018, she used the cards buying plane tickets and spent cash at casinos around the coun- try. The feds reviewed casino records, air- line records, ATM surveillance footage and her personal bank accounts. In October last year, The Dallas Morning News reported that a county auditor had found nearly $700,000 had been stolen from inmate commissary accounts. The audit, which led to Myers’ arrest at the time, con- cluded that 306 fraudulent debit cards had been made between 2015 and 2021. (The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office said Myers was fired at the time of her arrest.) “Accountability is a core value in our de- partment and we will continue to provide transparency to the community when these types of situations occur,” Sheriff Marian Brown told CBS at the time. It’s not the first time a jail employee has stolen money from inmates or commissary programs. In February 2020, WFAA reported that former Dallas City Council member and Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway, who has since pleaded guilty to taking bribes, had money stolen from his commissary while he was transferred from Dallas County Jail to a federal prison in Big Spring. It was unclear how much money went missing. In East Texas in 2019, 23-year-old Mayra Gallegos-Balderas, who worked for a company that operates a local jail in Lib- erty County, was arrested and charged with stealing hundreds of dollars in cash that inmates had surrendered upon being booked. >> p10 JUNE 30-JULY 6, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.com
